Blog Post

During our recent family vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey, I saw dozens of people with their heads bowed as they stood together. They weren’t in church, either. They were gathered on the seaside boardwalk, on downtown street corners, and in public parking lots. Unfortunately, these folks weren’t in prayer. Instead, their heads were bent over their cell phones as they played the hot new game Pokémon Go. In case you have missed the recent hype and don’t know what I’m talking about, Pokémon Go is a GPS-based game that superimposes a virtual world over the real one. After downloading the Pokémon Go app to their phones, players look through their phone cameras as they walk around. The app superimposes a game map on the camera image, so that as the player explores the neighborhood, cartoon Pokémon characters appear in the camera and can be “captured” by a swipe of a finger. While the game has led to some folks getting considerably more exercise, it has also caused some problems. Players have trampled lawns, walked out into traffic, and attempted to gain access to private property – all because they are focused on finding and capturing the coveted Pokémon cartoon characters.

Seeing the concentration of these game players got me to thinking. Why don’t we Christians look for signs of God’s presence with at least as much focus as the Pokémon players look for the animated game characters? The search isn’t that different, after all. Pokémon players need to see the world through the eyes of the game map in order to find the characters; and we need to look at the world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit in order to see God’s presence. Oh, sure, there are times when God’s presence is so obvious that we can’t miss it. But most of the time, God flies under the radar.

Look, here’s what I mean. The police have been in the news recently; and unfortunately, that news has frequently reported white police officers assaulting black citizens. But how many of you saw the story of a white officer who confronted a black woman stealing food? When that officer found out that the woman had small children in the house and no way to feed them, he let the woman go and bought a load of groceries to help the struggling family. (I’m sorry that I can’t give you the reference for this story. I read it a couple of weeks ago and forgot to record the source.) We need the eyes of the Spirit if we want to see God’s presence in the middle of all the chaos in today’s world. But believe me, God is working here, there, and everywhere.

So if you’re a Pokémon player, have fun with the new game! But look for God’s presence, too. Look in your own household; look in your neighborhood; look in your city and in our state and in our country and even around the world! And when you find God working, go tell somebody else so that they can see it, too. In the end, being able to see God’s presence in our lives is way more important – and maybe even more fun – than capturing cartoons. At least, that’s what I think.

Boundary training will be offered for SONKA ministers at Harmony Creek Church, 5280 Bigger Rd, Kettering, Ohio, on Saturday, October 19th. You choose which of the two sessions to attend, each focusing on three case studies around boundary issues. The first session will be held from 9 a.m to Noon. The second will be from 1-4 p.m. To register for the MORNING session online, please click here. To register for the AFTERNOON sesssion online, click here. To see the flyer click here.